When the forest owner wants to return… the forest!

07:46, 11/08/2023

The implementation of the policy of leasing land and forests to non-state enterprises to carry out management and protection projects and convert some poor areas to rubber plantations was expected to create a "boost" in the development of the forestry economy. However, many ineffective projects have caused enterprises to fall into a difficult and deadlocked situation, and some units even asked to... return the forests.

Businesses are having a hard time holding on.

In 2009, Dak Nguyen - Ea H'leo Joint Stock Company was leased 544.5 hectares of forest land by the Provincial People's Committee to grow rubber and nearly 445 hectares of production forest and planted forest for forest management and protection (in Ea H'leo district). Discussing the difficulties in forest management and protection, the representative of this enterprise said that many areas of leased production forest had been cut down and encroached upon by people to grow pepper, coffee and build houses for many years. Due to the thin force, the recklessness of loggers and limited sanctions, the Company could not prevent it. When discovering forest encroachment, the enterprise reported to the district forest rangers for handling, but when the authorities left, people came back to destroy the forest.

Rubber area planted on dipterocarp forest land in Buon Don district (photo taken in 2011).

With the rubber project, the first years of planting were quite good, but when the trees grew about 3 m, they began to show signs of stunting, with little latex, so the economic efficiency was not high. The reason is that most of the rubber area is planted on dipterocarp forest land with loose soil structure and poor nutrition. About 20 - 40 cm from the ground is a layer of gravel and gravel, with clay underneath, so in the dry and windy season, the trees are easily knocked down, and in the rainy season, they are flooded and die. In addition, each year, the enterprise has to pay more than 1 billion VND for land rent, pay salaries for forest protection and management forces, and pay for forest fire prevention and fighting, which is very expensive (while there are no support policies from the State). Helpless in the face of this situation, for many years now, the Company has submitted an application to return the forest but has not yet been processed by the provincial authorities.

Mr. Dang Van Tuan, Deputy Director of Hoang Anh Dak Lak Joint Stock Company, said that since 2008, the company has been leased more than 3,200 hectares of forest and forest land in Ea H'leo district by the Provincial People's Committee for forest management and conversion to rubber plantation. However, up to now, about 50% of the forest area assigned for forest management has been encroached upon by people for cultivation. The company has also planted 1,759 hectares of rubber for more than 10 years, but due to unsuitable climate and soil, many areas have died or are underdeveloped, causing low productivity and annual latex output, resulting in losses compared to investment costs.

There are many non-state enterprises that are allowed to lease land and forests for forest management and rubber plantation, which are struggling and at a standstill. In fact, in previous years, there were many similar projects of enterprises that “died young” in Buon Don and Ea Sup districts.

Fundamental solutions are needed.

Mr. Do Xuan Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that from 2008 to 2009, when rubber prices increased, the Government had a policy to develop 100,000 hectares of rubber in the Central Highlands. At that time, Dak Lak province also encouraged businesses to invest in developing this type of tree. However, by 2012, rubber prices began to decrease sharply, businesses realized that continuing to invest would result in losses, so they were not very interested, and many units even gave up. It must also be recognized that, because most of the assigned area is poor forest, while every year, businesses have to invest a lot of money in forest management and protection; the State has no support mechanism or policy, so businesses face many difficulties. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has also advised the Provincial People's Committee to propose measures to remove difficulties for the above-mentioned businesses. However, due to financial situation and limited resources, it is difficult to solve thoroughly and completely.

The working delegation of the Provincial People's Council supervises the forest management and protection work of Hoang Anh Dak Lak Joint Stock Company.

Regarding the two entities requesting to return the forest, Dak Nguyen - Ea H'leo Joint Stock Company and Tan Tien - Ea H'leo Company Limited, according to Mr. Do Xuan Dung, the procedures for handover and receipt must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law; the competent authority must re-evaluate the current status of the forest from the time of handover to the time of receiving it back. If receiving it back, it must be handed over to the locality to develop a plan to use that forest area, by attracting other more capable resources to continue investing and managing. Accordingly, the province also needs to have a mechanism to develop agroforestry, or have another direction to attract businesses to take short-term to support long-term, both in line with the goal of forest development and not changing the planning.

In recent years, the Government and the Provincial People's Committee have also issued many documents directing and guiding the recovery and handling of previously encroached and encroached land areas to develop recovery and clearance plans. These plans also propose a thorough review of encroachments. Households that are truly lacking residential or production land must be arranged according to the State's programs and policies; households that already have land but encroach further must be resolutely dealt with. Currently, the Provincial People's Committee is developing a plan to completely handle and recover the encroached and encroached forest land area in the area of Bridge 110 (Ea H'leo Commune, Ea H'leo District) and some sub-areas in Ea Sup District as well as in other areas. This is an effective solution to ensure forest security. However, to effectively manage and develop forests, it is necessary to have solutions to develop sustainable livelihoods associated with forests.

Le Thanh

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